Nicole Kilday Photography

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Hebron, IL
Nicole Kilday Photography

Illinois wedding & family photographer serving Northern Illinois & Southern Wisconsin since 2016. Will travel. You get to be with your people.

For couples here for the marriage & families living the beautiful chaos. Documentary, candid photos of your people & all the dirty details. I’m Nicole Kilday, an Illinois wedding and family photographer based in Hebron, photographing life across Northern Illinois, Chicago, McHenry County, Lake Geneva, and Southern Wisconsin since 2016, with travel available for weddings. For couples here for the marriage, families who live for the beautiful chaos, and everyone who shows up for both. Backyard vows, your dream venue, somewhere you’d go anywhere for, or an ordinary afternoon with your kids. I want to make art from your actual life—the people, the feeling, and all the dirty details you’ll want back someday. My approach is documentary and candid, with room for unscripted moments and creative portraits. We’ll chase the light, get you moving, and try a few of my weird ideas. When something real takes over, I’m paying attention. I’ll make photographs that bring you back to how it felt. I photograph weddings, weekday elopements, destination celebrations, and family, maternity, in-home newborn, and milestone sessions. Engagement sessions are exclusively for my booked wedding couples. It’s me, from getting to know you through making your photographs—with my whole heart in it.

10/18/2026

Goofy, squishy hugs always. These two always remind me to never take life too seriously. I’d love to view the world through their eyes. 💞✨

10/15/2026

That look. The one you give someone when you know — without a doubt — they hung the whole d⌁mn sky.

That’s Faith & Luis. Every frame. All day long.

Laughing with their whole bodies. Martinis in hand. They didn’t stand still and smile for the camera. They laughed through the cake. They waved from a golf cart like they’d just won the freakin lottery.

(they did.)

And then Noah.

Between the cheering and the cocktails, he wrapped himself around both of them time and time again. The constant embrace was the most natural thing in the world.

That’s the part I can’t stop thinking about. Sometimes a wedding isn’t just two people choosing each other. Sometimes it’s three. Sometimes it’s a little boy watching his mom be loved out loud — and learning exactly what that’s supposed to look like.

The Guerras.

All three of them. 🤍

Faith & Luis — you two have never done surface level. Open. Honest. Real. In front of my camera and every second outside of it. Thank you for letting me be the one paying attention. What a gift.

I have so much to share from this day - but here’s a snippet of the most “HOLY S**T WE’RE MARRIED” vibes ❤️‍🔥

—

if you’re engaged and want photos that feel the way your day felt — not posed, not polished, just yours — my 2028 calendar opens so soon. I’m a Chicago suburbs & Northern Illinois wedding photographer, and I’ll chase your day anywhere — Lake Geneva, Southern Wisconsin, and beyond (I have my passport ready and I’m ordained - let’s go somewhere your love is loudest). Inquire through the link in bio.

Venue & Coordination: Providence Vineyard Event Venue
Photographer: Nicole ⌁ Illinois Wedding Photographer & Family Photographer

10/15/2026

I could stare at them all day.

The first time I pulled my camera out at home in almost 4 months. Wedding season is slowing down & my editing queue is kickin into high gear.

2028 wedding books are about to open & it’s almost my 2027 couples wedding year! Where the heck has 2026 gone?! So many engagements, families, lil tiny newborn cuties, weddings and so much mores

Brb — Gonna soak in the last 2.5 months, continue celebrating all the love, and plan so much sharing of what I’ve been a witness to this year ❤️‍🔥

10/05/2026

Getting swept away by these two and their lakeside engagement session in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin 🌊

No one else I’d rather chase the sunset and seagulls with 🥹

10/02/2026

Personality Portraits — Who They Are, Right Now 🤍

I’ve been thinking about offering these little sessions, and I’d love to know what you think. Vote in the poll below!

My typical style leans documentary and toward the full story. But amidst busy season, I realized how little I’d picked up my camera to photograph my own little people this year. Cue the mom guilt—and the realization that I need to slow down even when everything feels constantly on the go. They’re only this little once.

So I’m thinking about offering short and simple children’s portrait sessions with all the room for the chubby cheekies, silly faces, little fingers reaching for my camera lens, and whatever else your kiddo brings me. A small way to remember who they are—right now.

The photographs here are from Bobby’s first birthday—the little expressions I’m so glad I have saved. 🥹

Here’s what I have in mind:
〰️ In my three-season sunroom studio in Hebron, Illinois
〰️ $150 for the first babe, $75 for each additional little
〰️ Approximately 5–10 minutes of photography
〰️ 5–7 edited digital images
〰️ Mondays and Thursdays, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
〰️ Weather permitting, since my sunroom isn’t heated or air-conditioned

Would you bring your little for something like this? Comment what you think. 🤍

If you’d like first dibs when appointments open, join the Personality Portraits email list through my link in bio. You’ll be the first to hear about available dates—no commitment to book.

09/19/2026

Rebecca & Christopher & Copper OFFICIALLY all have the same last name! 🤍

9.17.2026, Introducing the Ciaciuras

Chris’s mom and dad began a bible for Chris’s future wife long before Becca was around. The whole room shed a few tears peeking through their annotations, realizing it was meant for Becca this entire time.

I took a lot of notes while at this wedding to say the very least. 🥹

Photographer: Nicole ⌁ Illinois Wedding Photographer & Family Photographer
Venue: The BRIX on the Fox
Florals: Eden Floral Studio
Coordinator: Cinnamon Hernandez
Caterer: Uncle Bubs BBQ
DJ:

09/19/2026

🌴 OUT OF OFFICE 9/22-9/29: THIS ONE’S PACKED WITH CELEBRATIONS!

Heading to Mexico with the whole fam for a serious lineup of fun:
🎂 My birthday — 9/22
💍 Getting these two married in paradise — 9/24
🎈 My guy Declan turns 6 — 9/26

And for the first time ever, my husband Kyle is stepping behind the camera to try his hand at video — because if anyone’s fun enough to be his first shoot, it’s this couple. Wish him luck 🤪

I’ll be soaking up all of it until 9/29! If you’re waiting on a sneak peek or your finished gallery, you’re already on my list — I’ll have updates for you the second I’m home.

See you on the flip side! ☀️

09/15/2026

2 sleeps until these three have the same last name 🥹

09/10/2026

Brb, my best friend gets married in 2 days and I’m gonna soak it in 🤍

Be back 9.14.2026.

07/16/2026

When the kids dropped their snacks so you got a view like this 🪽

The kids were snacking on Cheetos while we were packing up the camper a few weeks back on our last day of vacation. One dropped one which led to another until they realized they could bribe the seagulls and dumped the entire bag.

Then they laid in wait until enough of them were swarming the empty campsite (& the Cheetos), and took off running, spreading their wings and caw-ing away with the seagulls taking off all around them.

While my phone wasn’t in reach I happened to be packing up my camera gear and snapped a quick shot of the crowd of new friends. I wish I took more than the few shots I got & that I had a different lens on to catch the kids flying with them in the distance, but I’m sure glad I was present for the rest of the weekend. 🥹

I’ll be sure to share our annual Redbud photo dump towards the end of the month. For now I’m still in mourning that we have to wait again until next year 😅

Address

Hebron, IL

Website

https://nicolekildayphotography.com/, https://www.google.com/search?q=Nicole+Kilday+Photography&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAA_-NgU1

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